If you ask ten people to describe in great detail what constitutes their dream home, the odds are you’ll get different answers from each one.
What might be a must-have for you might be a nice-to-have, a non-necessity, or an undesirable feature for someone else.
If the goal is to work from home sometimes or all the time, that’ll factor into what you want in a home. While millions of Americans work from home, some remote working arrangements work better than others. You need the right setup if you’re going to be as efficient and productive working from home as working from the company’s office.
Many factors come into play. One of them is the internet. Depending on where you live, internet service options could be plentiful or few.
But it’s not just about choosing the right internet service provider or internet service package. So that you maximize uptime availability and lower downtime unavailability, here are five interior and exterior home features to consider if you want reliable internet service at home.
1. Trees & Large Obstructions
When assessing what things could compromise internet access on your property, one thing to look at is the landscaping. Depending on the type of internet service you have, trees and obstructions can hinder quality and uptime potential. Making the wrong decision could make working from home next to impossible if internet access is a must.
For example, if you live in a rural area where fixed wireless or satellite internet are among the only available options, things like hills, trees, and structures or buildings can block signals.
You can usually get around such problems by being more strategic about where you place the satellite dish or antenna.
2. Building Materials & Roofing
While home features like metal roofs, energy-efficient windows, and concrete walls can help if you want more energy efficiency and cost savings during the summer and winter, they may also block Wi-Fi signals.
That could be a problem if you have a multi-floor residence and find that the WiFi connection is hit-and-miss at best.
The good news is there are possible ways to remedy the problem. For instance, you can use WiFi extenders to cover so-called dead zones and move your router to an open area in your residence.
3. Distance from ISP Infrastructure
The distance between your residence and the infrastructure of your internet service provider can also impact the quality of internet service.
Fixed wireless, DSL, and fiber suffer speed reductions depending on how far you are from your internet service provider’s infrastructure. One way around this is to find an internet service provider with infrastructure near your residence.
4. Neighboring Networks & Signal Interference
Living in a rural area where the homes are spaced further apart has its advantages. For one thing, you likely won’t have to deal with signal interference from neighboring networks.
Living in a city or suburb where other homeowners have WiFi networks could interfere with your WiFi signal. Going with 5GHz WiFi and choosing a less busy router channel can help.
5. Environmental Factors
While not technically a feature like the other four points, the weather can impact the reliability of internet service. If you have fixed wireless, satellite, or 5G home internet, service reliability might be impacted by storms, rain, and snow. Proper placement, if you have a satellite dish, can help. So, too, can clearing snow off the dish.
When the internet goes down because of environmental factors, one backup option is to use your smartphone as a hotspot so you can access the internet through your phone. But you should be careful if going this route since exceeding your data cap can cost you big time.
Understanding how to decrease mobile data usage will prevent your phone bill from inflating. Assessing what apps might be draining your data can help you stay in control and prevent your phone bill from climbing.
Across the U.S., the internet penetration rate is high with around 97.1% of the population having internet access. That’s up from around 71% in 2013, according to Statista. If moving to a new home or building one, you should consider your internet situation. Proceeding cautiously will ensure you know how to get the right internet service.
